Spoolless ribbon cartridge with lift and feed features combined

ABSTRACT

A spoolless ribbon cartridge containing either an endless fabric ribbon or a roll of single-pass carbon ribbon and having projecting members which hold a portion of ribbon accessible for printing. The cartridge has built-in rotatable drive members for forcing used ribbon into a chamber of the cartridge where it is stored in random, multi-folded fashion. By using loosely-meshed gears as drive members, the ribbon does not stick to the drive members and may be precreased during entry into the chamber. Oscillating fingers strip the ribbon from the gears and help pack the ribbon in the chamber. The drive members are rotated under control of a ribbon lift mechanism, which positions the cartridge such that printing occurs alternately from the upper and lower halves of the ribbon. Such rotation may effect a half-character movement of the ribbon in each printing cycle or a full character movement of the ribbon in every other print cycle, depending on the design.

United States Patent Perry et a1. Mar. 18, 1975 [541 SPOOLLESS RIBBONCARTRIDGE WITH 3,758,012 9/1973 Bonner et a1. 197/151 UX LIFT AND FEEDFEATURES COMBINED FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS [76] Inventors: DonaldS. Perry, 858 Renetta Ct., 12,870 1913 United Kingdom 197/168 11 0slA1toIDCa g y 29235 1913 United Kingdom 1. 197/168 0w er, ox reen,13778; R'chard Shatmck Primary E.\'aminer-Ernest T. Wright, Jr. 3869Hlghland R Hans Attorney, Agent, 0rFi/'/11Armand G. Guibert; Milton 2:32:2 t g g bmh of M. Wolson; John A. Taylor [22] Filed: June 5, 1972[57] ABSTRACT 1 1 pp 259,766 A spoolless ribbon cartridge containingeither an endless fabric ribbon or a roll of single-pass carbon ribbon152 11.5. (:1 197/151, 197/158, 197/168 andhaving Projecting b whichhold 91 [51] int. Cl B4li 33/14 of nbbon accesslble for Prlmmg' TheCamdge has [58] Field of Search 197/151 153 R 6 157 built-in rotatabledrive members for forcing used rib- 197/158 bon into a chamber of thecartridge where it is stored in random, multi-folded fashion. By usingloosely [56] References Cited meshed gears as drive members, the ribbondoes not stick to the drive members and may be precreased UNITED STATESPATENTS during entry into the chamber. Oscillating fingers strip 225,2033/1880 Abele 1797/l X the ribbon from the gears and help pack the ribboni y f f at 643 22; the chamber. The drive members are rotated under 6 ln [97/168 control of a ribbon lift mechanism, which positions the 56/1913 X cartridge such that printing occurs alternately from (M936Gmnghn 197/153 R the upper and lower halves of the ribbon. Such rot-11-2,635,357 3/1954 K k 197/1 tion may eftect a half-character movement ofthe rib- 3,-181,551 12/1969 Steelman 242/7111 A X bon in each printingcycle or a full character move- 3.513.957 5/1970 Ricciardi et a1.197/151 ment of the ribbon in every other print cycle, depend- 3.568.9433/1971 Robak 242/711 X d 3.621968 11/1971 Kondur 197/151 mg on L 651g3,726,381 4/1973 Murphy 197/151 X 12 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures 57 662 42 b 9 e1 e7 2 ee 15 L -i I (57 5 58b 55b\ .516 1 5c 1A 670 I l3b 3 g 1Ba 11] x 6 e 40 66b 2 2O SPOOLLESS RIBBON CARTRIDGE WITH LIFT AND FEEDFEATURES COMBINED BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates toa ribbon mechanism for an office machine, such as a typewriter, and moreparticularly, to a ribbon cartridge and a lift and feed mechanismtherefor.

Ribbon cartridges are known (from US. Pat. Nos. 2,902,136, 3,008,561,3,151,724, 3,260,344, and 3,356,202, for example), but these all havedisadvantages. Most have a multiplicity of parts such as supply andtake-up spools, and drive means for both. In most cases, cartridgeinsertion in the machine requires careful location and a steady hand topass the ribbon between the forks of the usual ribbon vibrator, orworse, requires manual stripping of a portion of the ribbon for suchpurposes, thus involving messy contact between the ribbon and theoperators hands. Furthermore, because of the varying level of the ribbonon the take-up spool, during the feed operation the load on the ribbontends to increase to the point of breakage, again involving a handlingof the ribbon with consequent soiling of the operators hands.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention solves theabove-mentioned problems by providing a ribbon cartridge which is verysimple in structure because it obviates the need for supply and take-upspools and their interrelated drives; eliminates need for a separate,variably positionable ribbon support mechanism; and incorporates aribbon feed which stores the ribbon in the cartridge in random folds andmay precrease it for more compact storage. The cartridge may containinked ribbon, carbon ribbon, or the like and is readily interchangeablewith similar cartridges. Spool herein refers to a flanged ribbon bobbin.By providing interfitting pivot members on each cartridge and onasupport in the typewriter, an old cartridge can be lifted out of thesupport and a replacement cartridge dropped onto the latter with aneasy, simple motion and pressed into position for printoperationcontrolled rocking of its supported ribbon to alternate upper and lowerelevations as determined by a ribbon lift mechanism. Further, ribbonfeed members are built into the cartridge and operated by a mechanismforming part of the ribbon lift mechanism. Oscillating fingers strip theribbon from the ribbon feed members and help pack the ribbon in thecartridge.

Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a spoollessprethreaded ribbon cartridge of simple structure, adaptable to useeither an endless web fabric ribbon or a single-pass carbon ribbon.

It is another object of the invention to provide a lowcost, throw-awaytype of cartridge for such ribbons requiring little skill for insertionand removal.

It is still another object of the invention to provide a ribboncartridge in which the ribbon lift and ribbon feed mechanisms arecombined.

Another object of the invention is to provide a ribbon cartridge inwhich the ribbon will not become entangled in the ribbon feed members.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING The objects, features, and advantagesof the invention will be apparent from a subsequent description ofpreferred embodiments of the invention made with reference toillustrations in the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a fabric ribbon cartridge according to afirst embodiment of the invention, including a lift and feed mechanism;

FIG. 2a is an enlarged perspective view of the ribbon feed entrance ofthe cartridge of FIG. 1, showing the ribbon disposed between dual feedgears with oscillating packing fingers for moving the entered ribbonaway from the feed gears, while FIG. 2b is a plan view of same includinga feed ratchet, pawl and detent;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a carbon ribbon cartridge according to asecond embodiment of the invention, again including a lift and feedmechanism;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged perspective view of the ribbon supply exit of thecartridges of FIG. I or FIG. 3, showing the integral ribbon guideswithin the cartridge housing; and FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective viewof the feed gears and oscillating packing fingers of FIG. 2a.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now to FIGS. 1 through 5,these show the ribbon supply and its lift and feed mechanism asparticularly applied to a printing machine having a singlemulti-character print element 42 movable laterally over the surface of arecord medium 14 supported on a laterally fixed platen 15, although theconcept is equally applicable to typewriters having a laterally movabledocument carriage and multiple typebars. A fabric ribbon cartridge 1 inFIG. 1 is a first embodiment of the invention, and a carbon ribboncartridge 61 in FIG. 3 is a second embodiment, each of the cartridges1,61 being interchangeably insertable in a support bracket 3 rigidlymounted on a support (not shown) for the print element 42 (shown indotted outline) of the example, or forming part of the typewriter frameif applied to a typewriter having multiple typebars supported in a fixedsegment of the typewriter frame. Cartridges 1 and 61 are each pivotableabout pivot studs 4,5 fixed to vertical side flanges 2b, 2a of supportbracket 3. The studs 4,5 enter recesses or notches 9 (only one shown inFIG. 1) formed in the sidewall of each cartridge 1,61 for purposes ofready insertion and removal by a simple drop-in/lift-out technique andfor locating the ribbon 8 or 66 with respect to the platen .15. A latch(not shown) may lock the cartridge 1 or 61 down.

Fabric ribbon cartridge 1 is in the form of a roughly U-shaped housing1a enclosing a chamber 7. Sidewall 6 of cartridge 1 is of sufficientdepth to permit chamber 7 to accommodate the vertically-oriented ribbon8. Similarly, the base 10 of chamber 7 is of sufficient area to accept apredetermined length of fabric ribbon 8. Two projecting members 13a, 13bof cartridge 1 which form the arms of the U function as supports andguides for the active portion 8a of fabric ribbon 8. The spacing betweenprojecting members 13a, 13b and their length is such as to accommodatethe entry of print element 42 into printing position relative to theactive ribbon portion 8a. In cartridge 1, fabric ribbon 8 is an endlessweb, supplied with and prethreaded in cartridge 1 so that during typingoperation, ribbon 8 is pulled to the right (as shown by the arrow onportion 8a in FIG. 1) through an exit opening 56 of cartridge 1 topresent successive fresh surfaces of ribbon 8 as the active ribbonportion between the multi-character single print element 42 and theusual record medium 14 supported on a platen 15, the ribbon movementresulting from rotation of feed rotors in the form of feed gears 11 and12, described in detail subsequently. Gears 11,12 near an entranceopening 56a to chamber 7, stuff the recently used, now inactive portion8b of ribbon 8 into chamber 7.

In addition to chamber 7, cartridge 1 contains within it fixed, integralexit guide pair members 45,46 and 47,48 (best seen in FIG. 4), orientedto insure smooth egress of ribbon 8 from cartridge 1 and to preventpreviouslyentered sections of ribbon 8 from being prematurely forced outof chamber 7. Guide pair members 47,48 have a gap between themequivalent to the thickness of ribbon 8, which gap forms the exitopening 56 of cartridge 1. The inner guide pair members 45,46 are spacedslightly further apart than the outer guide pair members 47,48 so thatthe exiting portion of ribbon 8 is funneled from a multiple ribbonthickness at the entrance to guide members 45,46 to a single ribbonthickness at guide members 47,48 to insure proper egress.

As mentioned previously, after passage through exit opening 56 in theleft projecting member 13b of cartridge 1, the active portion 8a ofribbon 8 passes between print element 42 and record medium 14 to theright projecting member 13a of cartridge 1, where it is subsequentlypicked up by the feed gears 11,12. Ribbon 8 may be guided in thistraverse by means ofa pair of chutes 58a, b, a respective one of thepair forming part of sidewall 6 in the area of projecting members 13a,13b. Chutes 580, b may be provided with flanges 59 for better control,if desired (see FIG. 2a). Ribbon feed-in gear 11 (see FIG. 2b), fixed ona vertical shaft 55a, has two spaced eccentrics 49 (for a purposeexplained subsequently) and its teeth 17a mesh loosely with teeth 17b ofgear 12, fixed on a parallel shaft 55b, and identical to gear 11 exceptthat gear 12 has an extra two teeth 17b. The distance between the shafts55a, 55b and the gear 11, 12 sizes are such that space 16 between gears11,12 is approximately the thickness of ribbon 8 so as to insure properfeeding of ribbon 8 between gears 11,12 during the gear drive operationfor re-entry of now inactive ribbon portion 8b into chamber '7. Fixed toshaft 55a is a drive ratchet 53, the teeth 50 of which cooperate with afeed pawl 38 to rotate feed gear 11 in the counterclockwise direction.Re entry of ribbon 8 into chamber 7 could be achieved with a pair ofplain rollers (not shown), but ribbon 8 tends to stick to such rollers.The problem of sticking is solved by use of loosely-meshed gears 11,12as drive members and, furthermore, precreasing of ribbon 8 by action ofteeth 17a, 17b provides better packing of ribbon 8 within chamber 7, asexplained subsequently.

Maintenance of proper tension on the active portion 8a of ribbon 8during print operation is assured by a spring 57 (see FIG. 4 for bestview) positioned near ribbon exit opening 56. Spring 57 has a formed end60 adjacent feed-out guide chute 58b and is fastened to sidewall 6 byrivets 62, or the like, the length of end 60 being such that spring 57is under stress when fastened to sidewall 6. If cartridge 1 is plastic,spring 57 may be integrally molded. Ribbon 8, being inserted between theformed end 60 and guide chute 58b, is therefore clamped between the twoand subject to friction force exerted by spring 57. Ribbon 8 is thusheld substantially taut since on the other side, feed gears 11,12 arelocked against reverse rotation by interaction of a detent 63 andratchet 53. The detent 63 can'be formed integral with a wall 6a of theprojecting member 13a from a plastic.

To facilitate the above-mentioned packing and to prevent ribbon 8crowding in the area near the outlet of gears 11,12, the pair of spacedeccentrics 49 (see FIG. 2a) are eccentric with respect to shaft 550similar eccentrics 49 on gear 12 being likewise eccentric with respectto shaft 55b (note that the upper portion of gear 11 has been removed inFIG. 2a for better visibility of the members next described). A pair offingers 51a, 51b are each mounted on eccentrics 49 by means of theirarcuate clasp members 52. A sliding fit between clasp members 52 andeccentrics 49 thus tends to oscillate fingers 51a, 51b not only togetherand apart, but also back and forth as eccentrics 49 rotate with shafts55a, 55b. Friction between clasp members 52 and eccentrics 49 and/or thepressure of the inactive ribbon portion 8b keeps ends 64 of fingers 51a,51b in contact with the inside of sidewall 6 (not shown in FIG. 2a). Inthis fashion, as ribbon 8 is being creased and stuffed into chamber 7during rotation of shaft 550, fingers 51a, 51b projecting inwardly intochamber 7 serve to strip ribbon 8 from gears 11,12 and oscillation ofthese fingers 51a, 51b pushes the creased ribbon 8 away from the areanear gears 11,12. It will be understood, of course, that the oscillationmay be omitted, if desired, in which case though not illustratedeccentrics 49 may be made noneccentric and fingers 51a, 51b are thenfixed barriers which only assist in stripping ribbon 8 from gears 11,12.

In a second embodiment, shown in FIG. 3, a similar cartridge 61 havingexternal dimensions identical to those of cartridge 1 is partitionedinto two chambers 65a, 65b, the first chamber 65a being of sufficientarea to accept the inactive portion 66b of a carbon ribbon 66 from aspoolless supply roll 67 which supplies the active portion 66a of thecarbon ribbon 66. Roll 67, preloaded and confined in the second chamber65b, has a flangeless bobbin 67a and is rotatable around a pin 69located in a slot 68. The purpose of slot 68 is to enable the operatorto judge theamount of ribbon 66 remaining on roll 67 so that itsexhaustion will not catch the operator unawares. The construction of theremainder of carbon ribbon cartridge 61 is identical to that of fabricribbon cartridge 1 except that there is no need for communicationbetween chambers 65a and 65b, since carbon ribbon 66 is nonreusable andtravels past print element 42 only once. Accordingly, when thenonreusable carbon ribbon 66 on supply roll 67 is exhausted, cartridge61 is discarded.

The drive means for lifting ribbon 8 and for feeding fresh ribbon 8 toprint element 42 will next be described. As this mechanism is identicalfor both fabric ribbon cartridge 1 and carbon ribbon cartridge 61, thedescription will be made only with respect to cartridge 1 and withreference to FIG. 1 alone. As seen therein, a lift bellcrank 18 isrockably supported on pivot stud 5, bellcrank 18 being in the form of aninverted V with arms 19,22. Arm 22 of bellcrank 18 has an ear 39 formedinto its upper margin (as seen in FIG. 1), ear 39 being of such lengthas to project under and give support to cartridge 1. Location of asimilar ear 40 on the upper margin of arm 19 allows the previouslymentioned drop-in mode of insertion of cartridges 1 and 61, abutment ofear 40 with a second point under cartridge 1 providing the necessaryalignment of notches 9 and pivot studs 4,5. The other arm 22 ofbellcrank 18 terminates in pivot disc 23 which is retained within a yoke24 of an upward extension 25 ofa bail 26. Bail 26 is pivotally supportedon a stud 27 mounted on the support (not shown) for print element 42 (oron a frame member in the case of a conventional typewriter).

A lower extension 28 of bail 26 has a cam roller 29 rotatably mounted atthe free end of extension 28 (Le, remote from stud 27). Bail 26 isadapted to rock back and forth because cam roller 29 lies within thesymmetrical, approximately elliptical path defined by a camming slot 38cut into a face 31 of a gear 32. Gear 32 also mounted on the support forprint element 42 is in mesh with a like-mounted actuating gear 33 drivenby a power roll shaft 34. An axial slot 70 on the surface of shaft 34and a mating tooth 71 on gear 33 provide lateral slidability of gear 33on shaft 34 (only in the case of the single print element typewriter ofthe example, gear 33 being laterally fixed in the case of a conventionaltypewriter).

At its free end (i.e., remote from pivot 5), arm 19 supports a pivotupon which is rockably mounted a feed bellcrank 21, which has two arms35,36. Arm 35, sinuous in contour, has a slot 37 which controls movementof feed bellcrank 21 during the latters operation by reason ofcooperation with a projecting stud 41 fixed to flange 2a of supportbracket 3. Arm 36 of feed bellcrank 21 terminates in pawl 38, previouslymentioned.

The lift actions of bellcrank 18 which result in a corresponding ribbondrive action through bellcrank 21 will next be described (still usingcartridge 1 for reference). Considering now a complete operationalcycle, whenever a key button (not shown) corresponding to a selectedcharacter is depressed, a power roll singleturn clutch (again not shown,but known) is engaged with the result that power roll shaft 34 and gear33 engagingly, but laterally movably mounted upon shaft 34 are drivenone revolution clockwise (a direction chosen merely for purposes of thisdescription because such direction is arbitrary inview of symmetry ofcamming slot 30). Gear 32 having a diameter exactly twice the diameterof gear 33, each clockwise revolution (one cycle) of gear 33 thereforerotates gear 32 counterclockwise one-half revolution, The firstquarterrevolution, say, of gear 32 (a half-cycle of gear 33) displacescam roller 29 from its dwell 54a to a first cam lobe 43, this lobe 43being the higher one of two lobes 43,44 in camming slot 30, both theselobes 43,44 including a constant radius portion at their peaks so thatribbon 8 may be held still during printing, in known fashion.Consequently, as bail 26 pivots clockwise about stud 27, lift bellcrankl8 pivots counterclockwise about stud 5, and cartridge 1 is urgedcounterclockwise by cooperation with ears 39,40 on arms 22,19, therebybringing ribbon portion 8a to its uppermost position (corresponding tothe peak of lobe 43), such that the character font of print element 42selected by the key button depressed will contact the lower half of theactive ribbon portion 8a and record the selected character on recordmedium 14, as print element 42 proceeds through a print cycle in knownfashion.

Simultaneously, ribbon feed bellcrank 21 being pivotally mounted aboutpivot 20 fixed to arm 19 of bellcrank 18, and having its pivoting motionfurther controlled by cooperation between camming slot 37 in its arm 35and stud 41 fixed to bracket 3, also pivots counterclockwise,preparatory to a feeding engagement between pawl 38 and the next tooth50a of ratchet 53. Camming slot 37 is shaped such as to aid in limitingthe travel of pawl 38 to an amount sufficient to pick up just the onetooth 50a. In FIG. 2b, it will be noted that during counterclockwiserotation of bellcrank 21, the furthest retracted position of pawl 38(shown by a dotted outline) is shifted to the left that is, behind thenext tooth 50a of ratchet 53. This is accomplished through use ofaresilient material (such as an acetal plastic) for bellcrank 21 or byproviding pivot 20 with a head portion and urging bellcrank 21 leftwardin known fashion by means of Belleville springs inserted between thebellcrank 21 and the head of pivot 20.

In the second quarter-revolution of gear 32, say, the reverse sequenceoccurs in that cam roller 29 traverses from lobe 43 to cam dwell 54!)equal in height to cam dwell 54a, resulting in return of ribboncartridge 1 to its normal position in which the printed line on recordmedium 14 is visible. During this second half of the cycle, ribbon feedbellcrank 21 now rotates clockwise about pivot 20 causing pawl 38 toengage tooth 50a of ratchet 53, pawl 38 having fallen behind tooth 50aduring the first half of the cycle, it will be recalled. Thus, feed gear11 is rotated counterclockwise, in mesh with driven feed gear 12.

Because the cartridge 1 has ribbon 8 prethreaded between feed gears 11and 12, then during rotation of these gears 11,12, meshing ones of theirrespective gear teeth 17a, 17b contact ribbon 8, the different number ofteeth 17a, 17b reducing the tendency of ribbon 8 to stick to gears11,12. Note that if the gears 11,12 are identical, the teeth 17a, 17bthen induce therein an equally spaced, vertical creasing whichfacilitates entry into chamber 7 in a more condensed fashion, resultingin a greater volume of ribbon 8 being storable in a cartridge 1 of givensize. Rotation of these gears 11,12 also moves ribbon 8 across the spanbetween projecting members 13a, 13b to place fresh ribbon 8 in front ofprint element 42, as previously described.

. On the followingselection of a key button, another clockwiserevolution (one cycle) of gear 33 causes the second half-revolution ofgear 32. In this second halfrevolution, cam roller 29 starts at dwell54b; progresses to the highest portion of lobe 44, which has a risesmaller than that of lobe 43; and then returns to dwell 54a, theoriginal starting point in the foregoing description. The actions duringthis second cycle are similar to those described for the first cycle,except that the smaller rise of lobe 44 moves lift bellcrank 18 througha smaller arc and thus rocks cartridge 1 a correspondingly small amountso that the selected character font of print element 42 now contacts theupper portion of ribbon 8 during the print action by element 42. Thealternating upper and lower impressions on the ribbon 8 result in a moreeconomical ribbon 8 usage. It should also be remarked that the design ofthe drive mechanism may be made such that a ribbon 8 motion of half acharacter space occurs in each cycle (as would be illustrated bystaggered arrangements of the letters I-I marked on the ribbon 8 of FIG.2a), or such that a ribbon 8 motion of a full character space occursonly after two impressions have been made on record medium 14, that is,only in every other cycle of gear 33 (not illustrated). The latter typeof feed motion could be achieved, for instance, by choosing dimensionsof the respective bellcranks 21,18 and the shape of slot 37 such thatthe second movement of bellcrank 18 would be insufficient to bring pawl38 behind tooth 50a.

Between impression cycles, the power roll clutch is disengaged, ofcourse, rendering power roll shaft 34 and lift and feed bellcranks 18,21stationary until another character imprint is desired, at which time theabovedescribed operational sequence is repeated upon depression of afurther keybutton.

The above description discloses a novel spoolless ribbon cartridge 1 or61 and a combined ribbon lift and feed mechanism therefor, adaptable tobusiness machines, comprising a cartridge 1 or 61 storing a supply ofendless fabric ribbon 8 or a roll of carbon ribbon 66, respectively, andhaving built-in projecting members 13a, 13b over which the ribbon 8 or66 passes to builtin ribbon feed gears 11,12 which crease the ribbon 8or 66 while returning it to the cartridge 1 or 61 for storage therein infolded fashion, and which cooperate with a combined ribbon lift andribbon feed drive mechanism l8,2l,26,29,30 on the machine, thatmechanism being operated by the power roll shaft 34.

In light of the above-described embodiments, it will be evident to thoseskilled in the art that the present invention is susceptible of othermodifications, substitutions, etc. and such are intended to be withinthe scope of the invention, it being defined only by the appendedclaims.

We claim:

1. A spoolless ribbon cartridge for printing machines with at least oneprint element, comprising a. a housing having a first chamber with anentrance opening and a second chamber with an exit openb. a roll ofcarbon ribbon preloaded in said second chamber, said carbon ribbonhaving an active portion and an inactive portion and said inactiveportion being storable in said first chamber,

0. a pair of projecting members associated with said housing andoperable to support said active portion of said carbon ribbon in aspanning relationship with respect to said projecting members andexternal to said first and second chambers in a position accessible forcooperation between said print element and said carbon ribbon, and

d. means for feeding said carbon ribbon mounted in said housingproximate said entrance opening and in direct-contact drivingrelationship with said carbon ribbon whereby said carbon ribbon may bedrawn through said exit opening, over said projecting members and intosaid entrance opening for forced, random storage of said inactiveportion in said first chamber.

2. The spoolless ribbon cartridge of claim 1, in which said feedingmeans includes a pair of feed gears loosely meshed in the absence ofsaid carbon ribbon and snugly meshed when said carbon ribbon is threadedbetween said feed gears.

3. The spoolless ribbon cartridge of claim 2, in which said feed gearshave different numbers of teeth to help machine, the cartridge having ahousing with a chamber for the ribbon and an entrance opening for theribbon, and two feed rotors journaled in the housing near the entranceopening for feeding the ribbon between the feed rotors, wherein theimprovement comprises:

a. eccentrics on the feed rotors and b. fingers mating with theeccentrics for oscillation by the eccentrics to strip the ribbon fromthe feed rotors and push the ribbon away from the feed rotors to helppack the ribbon in the chamber.

5. The cartridge of claim 4, in which the cartridge has sidewalls, andthe fingers have clasp members that mate with the eccentrics and freeends that oscillate along the sidewalls when the fingers are oscillatedby the eccentrics.

6. The cartridge of claim 5, in which the feed rotors are feed gearswith different numbers of teeth to help prevent the ribbon from stickingto the feed gears.

7. An improved cartridge for a ribbon for a printing machine having aprint element, means for pivotally mounting the cartridge, and means foroscillating the cartridge on the pivotal mounting means, the cartridgehaving a housing containing a chamber for the ribbon and two projectingmembers on the housing with free ends and openings in the free ends forthe ribbon to span the projecting members to receive impacts of theprint element, wherein the improvement comprises:

a. two feed rotors journaled in one of the projecting members forfeeding the ribbon between the feed rotors and b. a ratchet on one ofthe feed rotors for interaction with the cartridge oscillating means torotate the feed rotors and feed the ribbon during oscillation of thecartridge.

8. The cartridge of claim 7, further comprising:

c. a detent that engages the ratchet so that the ratchet can rotate inonly one direction.

9. The cartridge of claim 8, in which the projecting member in which thefeed rotors are journaled has a wall composed of a plastic and thedetent is formed in tegral with the wall.

10. The cartridge of claim 7, further comprising:

c. eccentrics on the feed rotors and d. fingers mating with theeccentrics for oscillation by the eccentrics to strip the ribbon fromthe feed rotors and push the ribbon away from the feed rotors to helppack the ribbon in the chamber.

11. The cartridge of claim 10, in which the cartridge has sidewalls, andthe fingers have clasp members that mate with the eccentrics and freeends that oscillate along the sidewalls when the fingers are oscillatedby the eccentrics.

12. The cartridge of claim 11, in which the feed rotors are feed gearswith different numbers of teeth to help prevent the ribbon from stickingto the feed gears.

1. A spoolless ribbon cartridge for printing machines with at least one print element, comprising a. a housing having a first chamber with an entrance opening and a second chamber with an exit opening, b. a roll of carbon ribbon preloaded in said second chamber, said carbon ribbon having an active portion and an inactive portion and said inactive portion being storable in said first chamber, c. a pair of projecting members associated with said housing and operable to support said active portion of said carbon ribbon in a spanning relationship with respect to said projecting members and external to said first and second chambers in a position accessible for cooperation between said print element and said carbon ribbon, and d. means for feeding said carbon ribbon mounted in said housing proximate said entrance opening and in direct-contact driving relationship with said carbon ribbon whereby said carbon ribbon may be drawn through said exit opening, over said projecting members and into said entrance opening for forced, random storage of said inactive portion in said first chamber.
 2. The spoolless ribbon cartridge of claim 1, in which said feeding means includes a pair of feed gears loosely meshed in the absence of said carbon ribbon and snugly meshed when said carbon ribbon is threaded between said feed gears.
 3. The spoolless ribbon cartridge of claim 2, in which said feed gears have different numbers of teeth to help prevent said carbon ribbon from sticking to said feed gears.
 4. An improved cartridge for a ribbon for a printing machine, the cartridge having a housing with a chamber for the ribbon and an entrance opening for the ribbon, and two feed rotors journaled in the housing near the entrance opening for feeding the ribbon between the feed rotors, wherein the improvement comprises: a. eccentrics on the feed rotors and b. fingers mating with the eccentrics for oscillation by the eccentrics to strip the ribbon from the feed rotors and push the ribbon away from the feed rotors to help pack the ribbon in the chamber.
 5. The cartridge of claim 4, in which the cartridge has sidewalls, and the fingers have clasp members that mate with the eccentrics and free ends that oscillate along the sidewalls when the fingers are oscillated by the eccentrics.
 6. The cartridge of claim 5, in which the feed rotors are feed gears with different numbers of teeth to help prevent the ribbon from sticking to the feed gears.
 7. An improved cartridge for a ribbon for a printing machine having a print element, means for pivotally mounting the cartridge, and means for oscillating the cartridge on the pivotal mounting means, the cartridge having a housing containing a chamber for the ribbon and two projecting members on the housing with free ends and openings in the free ends for the ribbon to span the projecting members to receive impacts of the print element, wherein the improvement comprises: a. two feed rotors journaled in one of the projecting members for feeding the ribbon between the feed rOtors and b. a ratchet on one of the feed rotors for interaction with the cartridge oscillating means to rotate the feed rotors and feed the ribbon during oscillation of the cartridge.
 8. The cartridge of claim 7, further comprising: c. a detent that engages the ratchet so that the ratchet can rotate in only one direction.
 9. The cartridge of claim 8, in which the projecting member in which the feed rotors are journaled has a wall composed of a plastic and the detent is formed integral with the wall.
 10. The cartridge of claim 7, further comprising: c. eccentrics on the feed rotors and d. fingers mating with the eccentrics for oscillation by the eccentrics to strip the ribbon from the feed rotors and push the ribbon away from the feed rotors to help pack the ribbon in the chamber.
 11. The cartridge of claim 10, in which the cartridge has sidewalls, and the fingers have clasp members that mate with the eccentrics and free ends that oscillate along the sidewalls when the fingers are oscillated by the eccentrics.
 12. The cartridge of claim 11, in which the feed rotors are feed gears with different numbers of teeth to help prevent the ribbon from sticking to the feed gears. 